Powerful. Emotional. Justice. Friendship. Love. Hatred.
These are the words that keep spinning through my head as I watched ‘Felon’.
The story stars Stephen Dorff who plays a family-orientated hardworking man with a bright future who killed an intruder into his home by accident and gets incarcerated as a result.
While his fiancee who is with a struggle to make ends meet outside as a result of losing his income, Stephen fights his own battle within the prison walls struggling to please the gangs and pander to the whims of twisted tyrannic prison officers.
Val Kilmer plays a strong quiet man with an imposing presence and a depressing past. He becomes the mentor of Stephen Dorff and teaches him the rules of survival within the prison walls.
If this reads like a dramatized movie plot to you, let me assure you that it is nothing like that. ‘Felon’ is in my opinion one of the most realistic portrayals of prison movies and there is nothing glorifying nor ‘gung-ho’ about the situation inside.
The director/author Ric Roman Waugh apparently spent 2 years researching and writing the script for Felon. He spoke to many prison officers and inmates and has made a conscientious effort to make everything as realistic as possible. I believe him. The movie feels a lot like a documentary and many times you can get so involved in the movie that you keep thinking that “this could happen to me”. This is an amazing director who has done a terrific terrific job.
Stephen Dorff plays his role with great passion and conviction. He is an amazing actor and I will be watching out for his name in the future. The transformation in Stephen is painfully apparent as he turns from a law-abiding citizen with a loving family to a wounded and frustrated prisoner who fights to survive within the prison walls who nearly lost the support of his beloved fiancee.
I must also mention that Val Kilmer’s performance was very convincing. He exudes a strong silent charisma that makes you fear and like the man at the same time. I believe that the director made the perfect choice in choosing Kilmer for this role.
Watching how the prison officers rule over the prison like their own little kingdom is infuriating and at times you wonder who the real criminals are. The word ‘felon’ now holds new meaning for me after watching the show, and I expect it would to you too.
I would strongly recommend anybody to watch the show.
You can also visit this Squidoo lens I created on Felon.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Qu7X6wZ-I[/youtube]
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